Fight For The Throne
by PharaohsThrone
Summary: Being the King of Egypt is quite the task on any normal day, so when Atem's position as Pharaoh is under threat, he is forced to try and fight against an enemy that has the upper hand: that being Atem has no idea who he's fighting. Meanwhile, he takes in a peasant girl who is in need of his help, but little does he know that she holds the key to his victory.
1. Chapter 1 - A New Threat

**Fight For The Throne**

Being the King of Egypt is quite the task on any normal day, so when Atem's position as Pharaoh is under threat, he is forced to try and fight against an enemy that has the upper hand: that being Atem has no idea who he's fighting. Unbeknownst to him, the key to his victory sits with a peasant girl, but what would she know of this anonymous enemy?

* * *

**Chapter One: A New Threat**

Pharaoh Atem sat on his throne, looking down at his Sacred Guardians. He had gathered them all there along with Shimon to discuss something very important. Only thing was, there was someone missing.

"Where is Darius?" Atem asked. "As head of the Royal Guard, I would expect him to be here."

"I'm sure he shows no disrespect Pharaoh," Shimon replied. "Perhaps he did not receive your message."

"Well it seems that the rest of the palace did," Atem inclined his head to the Guardians. "Do any of you know of his whereabouts?"

"I have not seen him since this morning when he was out in the village," Seto said, looking around. That's when they noticed one of the palace guards approaching them. He was breathing heavily as if he had just been running.

"Darius sends his apologies, Pharaoh," the guard said, trying to regain his breath, "Something important has come up, but he said he shall arrive as soon as possible."

"Very well," Atem said, "Thank you." The guard nodded, before turning and heading back where he had come from.

"I don't see what could be more important than meeting with our king," Seto muttered. He then stepped forward, "Pharaoh, I suggest we start without Darius if he refuses to show up on time."

"My thoughts exactly Priest Seto," Atem replied. He then lifted his head up so that he was addressing the group before him, "It has come to my attention that there is talk within Egypt of a group who plan to take over the throne." A chorus of gasps spread throughout the room.

"Who would talk of such treasonous activity?!" Shadah asked.

"I am not sure, but because of this, we must ensure the highest security possible, which is why I was hoping for Darius to be at this meeting..."

Darius had originally planned to join the guardians at the Pharaoh's meeting, but something made him change his mind. He had been on his usual patrol through the town, when a man approached him, complaining about a girl he had found sleeping in his horse stables.

"_Peasants_," Darius muttered under his breath, "where is the girl now?"

"She refuses to leave, sir." The man lead Darius to the stables where they found the peasant girl sitting in the corner, cowering away from them.

"Please," she begged, "I have nowhere else to go." Darius examined the girl with his eyes. She had very long dark hair, filled with dirt and tangled from sleeping on the floor. Her blue eyes stood out the most however, begging him silently to let her be, and she wore a torn rag for a dress, that was now covered in dirt also. Apart from these few attributes however, her appearance was quite pleasing to Darius' eye.

"On your feet, peasant girl," he demanded. She slowly stood up, and he turned to the man who had lead him here, "Not to worry, she shall not bother you any longer." He then turned to the two guards who were with him, "You two," he addressed them, "grab her; she's coming with us."

...

"Seto," Atem stopped him as the Guardians were leaving.

Seto turned around as the Pharaoh approached him, "yes my king?"

"I couldn't help noticing," Atem began after the others had left, "you don't appear to be very fond of Darius, am I correct?"

Seto stuttered, "Well, I, uh-"

"There is nothing wrong with having an opinion, Seto," Atem said, "Especially in the circumstances we have at the moment."

Seto sighed, "Well no, I am not very fond of him. I think his manner is appalling and the few times I have come across him he has not shown me the respect I would expect from someone of his status."

"Darius certainly has quite the ego," Atem agreed, "however, try not to let your personal beliefs overshadow your opinion of the situation."

"Yes Pharaoh," Seto said, "I shall take that into consideration." Atem nodded and Seto left. The pharaoh then turned around, "Mahad," he called to the other side of the room, "You were awfully silent during our meeting today."

Mahad walked over, a concerned expression on his face, "Yes, well, it's not every day that there is a group who plan to overthrow our King."

"Indeed," Atem said, "I hope you are prepared for whatever may come."

"I am always prepared," Mahad replied.

Over the next couple of weeks, all of the sacred guardians were on high alert, which meant they noticed more suspicious activity happening around the palace.

"Isis," Mahad approached her, "Has your necklace been able to show you anything?"

She shook her head, "Unfortunately not, there is something blocking my vision of the future."

"I should have known," Mahad said, "whatever this group is, they are trying their very best to avoid us from getting in their way. And my fears are that our enemies reside in the palace."

Isis shushed him, "Mahad do not say that so openly," she warned him, lowering her voice. "It is true we must keep anyone open as suspects, however we must be careful what we say around who."

"You're right," Mahad replied, "I shall keep that in mind." That's when Seto happened to be walking in their direction. Mahad stopped him, "Seto, how are your investigations going?"

"I have not come across anything of importance yet," Seto told him, "But we have only just begun."

Later that day, Seto had approached Pharaoh Atem about some suspicions he had concerning Darius. He mentioned how Darius had been disappearing for hours daily, and nobody would know of his whereabouts. He had also missed countless meetings concerning important matters, and his attitude as of late Seto thought was quite appalling. It was as if his respect for the Pharaoh and anyone in the palace had dropped dramatically.

"When I have encountered him he has shown the proper respect," Atem said, "However if he is being disrespectful behind my back I would be most inclined to question his motives."

"I did notice him emerging from the dungeons a few minutes ago," Seto said, "However I do not see why he would have need to go down there, we have no prisoners at the present moment."

"Unless he is keeping prisoners down there without my consent," Atem said. "Even if he is head of the Royal Guard I would expect him to update me on anything that goes on in his sector. You were right to voice your concerns Seto, I think we should go and see what he was doing down in the dungeons."

"Exactly what I was thinking," Seto said. "I haven't been down there myself in quite a while as we have no prisoners at the moment."

"I'm sure we will soon, however," Atem said, "Let's see why Darius is so interested in the dungeons then, shall we?" Seto nodded, and the two of them set off for the part of the palace that was rarely visited, sitting far underground.

* * *

Okay, so i should probably mention: im known for starting 10 billion stories at once, cause i just get so many ideas! and this is my most recent one :D dont know how fast updates will be, it really depends how this turns out and if the ideas keep flowing, but this story definitely has potential, I have a rough idea of how it's going to go so thats a start, right? XD

Anyway, I hope you guys like it :)


	2. Chapter 2 - Darius' Secret

**Chapter 2 - Darius' Secret**

Atem and Seto slowly made their way down the torch-lit stone walkway, peering into each dungeon room as they went. So far, they had not found anything of interest, each room appeared to be unoccupied as they had first thought. As they were reaching the end of the walkway however, they noticed something unusual about the far dungeon room; the door was closed. It was only a small thing, but every other door was open as the rooms were not in use. The two men approached the very end room and stopped in front of it, quite puzzled. Atem tried to open the door, but it was locked shut.

"Allow me, Pharaoh," Seto said, stepping forwards holding the dungeon keys. He unlocked the door and pushed it open wearily. The two men gasped when they saw was inside the room. In the far corner, on the hard bed designed to accommodate prisoners, was a girl. Her wrists were chained to the wall behind her (obviously a recent renovation to the room), her arms pulled up above her head and circled by metal cuffs. The rags she was wearing only barely covered her otherwise naked body.

"Good heavens!" Seto exclaimed with horror, as he walked into the room.

The girl cowered away from him, there was a rag tied around her mouth, so she was unable to speak audibly. Closer up, the girl looked to be in quite a terrible state. Her long dark hair was tangled and dirty as if she had been sleeping on the ground, and there were also dark circles under her bright blue eyes, but what stood out most was the horrendous bruises and red scratch marks all over her.

Atem stepped out from behind Seto and approached the girl carefully, "We do not intend to harm you," he said gently, "we're here to help." The girl relaxed slightly upon seeing the Pharaoh, and her face flushed red, obviously embarrassed by being found in such a state by the king of Egypt himself. He walked over to her, "May I?" he asked, reaching for the rag that was covering her mouth. She carefully nodded, and he untied the dirtied cloth, allowing her to speak. "Who did this to you?" he asked as Seto moved to stand next to him.

The girl's voice was weak and quiet, though the two men still heard her very clearly when she said, "The one in charge of your guards, Darius..."

Seto clenched his teeth, "I knew we couldn't trust him!"

Atem was outraged also, but his main concern was to help the girl. "Seto, we can deal with Darius later, right now we need to get this poor girl out of those chains."

"Yes Pharaoh," Seto said, holding in his anger. They managed to get the chains off of the girl's wrists, to find there were many cuts and bruises underneath. Also now that they were closer, they could see how small and frail she was, it looked like she had not eaten in quite some time, and she was incredibly weak, obviously unable to walk up the many stairs that lead to the rest of the palace. Atem took this into account, and went to lift the girl off the bed into his arms. When the girl realised this, she pulled away slightly.

"It's alright," Atem said, "We're going to look after you. Nobody will be able to harm you any more." Although the girl still felt uncomfortable with the idea, she could barely resist, so she allowed the Pharaoh to lift her up into his arms. She winced but tried not to be difficult, despite the pain she was feeling. When Atem had lifted her up, he noticed with horror that there were several blood stains on the bed. He swallowed, turning to the door and with Seto leading, they headed out of the dungeon room and up the stairs.

"We must be careful Seto, we do not know who we can trust in the palace as of now."

Seto nodded, on high alert as they made their way up the winding stairs, "Yes Pharaoh."

Atem looked down at the girl, she had her eyes closed, and she looked absolutely exhausted. Despite the fact that she was in such a terrible physical state, he noted how much natural beauty she had. _Probably why Darius chose to abuse this girl over others, _he thought, trying not to voice his outrage.

...

Atem stood at the door of the girl's new chambers, she now lay in a comfortable bed, covered in decent clothing. She had fallen asleep almost as soon as she was placed there. Seto and Atem had planned to clean her up and feed her straight away, but after noticing that she had fallen asleep, they decided to let her get the rest she needed. After all, they doubted she would have been able to get much sleep down in that dungeon with her arms chained above her and Darius coming down to abuse her daily.

Atem turned to the guards at the door, "When she wakes, ensure she gets all the food and water she needs, as well as anything you can do for her injuries. And if she consents, have the maids bathe her also. But keep in mind she is very weak."

The guards nodded, "Yes my King," and Atem left to have a secret emergency meeting with his guardians, and this time, Darius was not invited. When he reached the throne room the guardians were already gathered there, mixed expressions on their faces.

"Thank you for gathering on such short notice," Atem said, taking his seat on the throne, "As Seto may have mentioned, we discovered something horrendous a few moments ago..."

...

_The weak peasant girl choked out screams of pain as Darius thrusted into her roughly, causing her to cry out in pain with each one. Her cries were muffled though, for a rag was tied tightly around her mouth. She could feel blood welling on the bed below her, but he didn't slow up, he only continued with his torture, running his nails across the skin of her chest and stomach as he went, leaving angry red marks behind. The chains she was restrained by cut at her wrists aggressively as she screamed in pain, pleading through her tears for him to stop. Darius simply grabbed her arms tight in his grasp in response as he continued to thrust, a hideous smirk plastered on his face. The girl wasn't sure if she was sobbing or wailing or both at this point, all she could feel were the bruises forming where he held her tightly, and the incredible burning pain she felt each time he thrusted into her. _

_Darius leaned down to talk in her ear, "Go on, scream all you want," he said roughly, "nobody will be able to hear you..." _

The girl suddenly woke from her nightmare, covered in sweat, breathing heavily and shaking madly. She painfully pulled herself into a sitting position, wincing as she went and trying not to make it audible. She clamped her eyes shut and covered her ears, trying to block out the painful memory that sat at the front of her mind, but as much as she tried, she could still hear Darius' voice in her ear, feel the pain of the chains around her wrists... and she burst into tears.

* * *

So there it is, the first 2 chapters, I've written about 100 words of the next chapter, and i dont know when it will be finished, but hopefully it wont take too long (cause all im doing for The Millennium Heart atm is editing) I just need the motivation to write :P

Hope you're liking it so far :)


	3. Chapter 3 - Recovery

**Chapter 3: Recovery**

"Where is the girl now?" Isis asked Atem, the guardians still gathered in front of the throne.

"She is in a secure room in the palace, guarded by two of my most trusted men," Atem said, "and she is not to be disturbed, she is very exhausted and weak and needs to recover."

"So what are we to do with Darius, Pharaoh?" Carim asked.

"I want you to find him and bring him to me," Atem said, clenching his fists, "There is no exception for his misdeeds, no matter what his status is!"

"We shall not let you down, Pharaoh," Shadah said. "Darius will be brought to justice."

Atem nodded, "Good."

They were interrupted by one of the palace guards, as he explained that the girl had awoken but seemed very distressed for some unknown reason, and that she would not let either of the guards near her to help.

"Perhaps I should go see what the problem is," Atem said, standing up.

"Allow me, Pharaoh," Seto said, "I'll go help the girl," he suggested.

Atem shook his head, "If there is anyone she would trust, it would be me. I am Pharaoh after all..." Atem thanked his guardians and left the room swiftly, heading for the girl's chambers. When he reached the door, he questioned the two guards on the situation.

"She seems quite distressed," the one known as Raphael said. "Though she won't let us near her, and hasn't said a word since she woke up."

"I'll see what I can do..." Atem said, walking past them into the room. He spotted the girl curled up in the bed, her back to him. When she heard his footsteps approaching, she turned, ready to fend off whoever it was. When she realised it was the Pharaoh, however, she stopped.

He carefully approached the bed, noticing that her eyes were red and bloodshot, filled with tears.

"How are you feeling?" Atem asked.

The girl wiped her eyes, before speaking quietly, "Quite terrible, really," she mumbled, pulling herself into a sitting position with a wince. "I apologise for any disrespect Pharaoh."

Atem shook his head, "Do not worry, you have shown no disrespect," he said. "May I ask what your name is?"

The girl cleared her throat, "Elina," she said.

"Well Elina," he said, "Would you mind telling me why you were so distressed earlier?" he asked.

Elina sighed, looking down at the cuts surrounding her wrists. "I had a nightmare about my time down in the dungeon..." she said. She went to explain more, but Atem stopped her.

"No, it's alright, I understand," he said. "Please allow my guards to look after you, they can clean you up and help heal those wounds." Elina nodded, and Atem turned to the two men at the door, "Raphael, Demitri, the girl has awoken. I told you to get food for her, why has this not happened?"

"My apologies Pharaoh," Demitri said, "We had been distracted with the previous events."

"Very well," Atem said, "Just make sure you look after her so she can recover." He turned to leave, _Although her physical wounds will heal in time_, Atem thought as he left the room, _those nightmares of hers are a sign that her emotional scars may not disappear so quickly..._

...

Later that afternoon, Atem had discovered that Darius was nowhere to be seen. The guardians said that they had searched everywhere for him, but he had disappeared. They assumed that he had fled after realising his dirty secret had been found.

"Do you think he may be behind the recent threats we have heard of?" Shadah had asked.

"Although he has been unfaithful to the palace," Atem had explained, "that does not mean that he is the one who intends to overthrow us, it could be unrelated," he said. That being said, they were still on high alert, and kept Darius in mind as a suspect.

As Elina recovered, Atem visited her often to check up on her. Unfortunately, her nightmares hadn't ceased, and the guards reported hearing screams coming from her chamber at night, but when going to investigate, would find her unharmed, simply being terrified by her nightmares.

Elina had almost completely recovered, though she still had trouble walking, she was getting healthier as she was eating properly and getting the rest she needed. This particular morning when Atem came to visit, he found her trying to get across the room to the tray of food that had been placed by the door. Unfortunately though, she was in too much pain and almost collapsed where she was, half way across the room. When Atem saw this, he quickly scooped her up in his arms, and placed her back on the bed.

"Thank you, Pharaoh," she said, sounding defeated.

"Why didn't you ask one of the guards to get this for you?" he asked, bring the tray over to her.

She sighed, "I don't want to be a nuisance, Pharaoh," she said. "And I thought that I'd be able to walk fine by now." She didn't realise how much damage Darius had done to her lower half with his rough onslaught of abuse. She shifted uncomfortably on the bed, willing the discomfort to go away.

"Asking for help isn't being a nuisance," he said. "You need to recover, remember?" She nodded, and Seto walked into the room, grabbing Atem's attention.

"My King," he said, "I apologise for the interruption."

Atem turned to Seto with a nod, "That's quite alright, you have news for me?"

Seto originally thought he would need to speak with Atem in private, but then figured it wouldn't be a problem for Elina to hear what he had to say. He stepped forward, "Pharaoh, I fear that Darius may be behind the threats we have been receiving. Even if he is not this enemy himself, he may be part of their plan."

Atem rested his hand on his chin, thinking about Seto's words. "A distraction, perhaps..." he said, "yes, that's quite plausible. He may not be our enemy, but that doesn't rule out him helping them out by dragging us off course. I suggest you alert the other guardians as see what they have to say, we appear to be running out of time."

"Indeed," Seto agreed, "If they find us before we find them we must be prepared," with one last nod, Seto left the room.

It was then that Elina spoke up, "Pharaoh," she said, grabbing his attention. He turned back to her. "Were you just saying that you think Darius is behind the threats you've been receiving?"

"Well, that we're not sure of," he said, sitting down on the end of her bed. "But as Seto just helped me realise, perhaps you were a distraction from what's really going on."

Elina thought for a moment, "I swear I remember hearing Darius say something about that..." she creased her eyebrows, becoming frustrated that she couldn't remember. She sighed, giving up. "Most of my memory from down in the dungeons is just a blur now."

Atem smiled at her reassuringly, "That would have been quite a traumatising experience for you, it is understandable that your mind wants to block it out. But if you do remember anything that could help us, please do let us know."

Elina nodded, smiling, "I will." Her smile then faded as she tried to think again. "I know that I heard him say something that might help, I just wish I could remember..."

* * *

okay, so i finally managed to finish this chapter that's been bugging me for weeks, yet im still not happy with it -.- anyway, hopefully i can slowly get back into writing this story as i know a few of you are interested in it, so i'll try my best :)

hope you liked the chapter!

PharaohsThrone :)


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